It is a really great feeling when you try something new to improve your marketing and more people end up taking action as a result of it.

Usually 10... 30... 60% increases are about the norm when you're doing the standard type of testing.

If for every 100 people who come through your website you can even get just 1 more to buy or request information, that's definitely something to get excited about.

But what about...

A 223% increase?

To put it another way, that means conversions more than triple!

Now that's really cause to get excited!

Which is exactly what happened the other week to a friend of mine when they added a simple little video clip to the "thank you page" someone sees after opting in for their free ebook.

What I mean is that by adding a video clip to this "thank you" page, the amount of people who normally then go on to purchase their main offer more than tripled.

This is really powerful for a number of reasons.

For one, we're talking about a conversion rate where people actually pull out their wallets and BUY.

Conversion rates can apply to just about anything...... and when you're dealing with something like a free offer it's a little easier to see that much of an increase, as opposed to a direct purchase.

Also, there's the fact that that video wasn't even added to main offer Sales Letter where people were doing the purchasing. It was added to a page on a totally separate site and yet it still had that much of an impact on the end result.

But I think what's really amazing about it is that the video added wasn't even meant to pre-sell people on the main offer in the slightest bit. There was no sales language whatsoever. There wasn't even any useful content or tips!

Videos have repeatedly proven to explode sales online, but my friend wasn't expecting much from this one. The only purpose of this video was to walk people through the email confirmation process they need to go through in order to get their free ebook. That's it!

Why such a big impact on conversions then?

I think a couple of the reasons are because most people prefer consuming information through video than they do by reading it, plus, we also learn better when we use multiple senses instead of just one.

But again, because the video wasn't sales or even educational in nature, I think the main reason it increased conversions is simply because of the personal element it adds.

This is becoming more and more of a factor online.

By hearing my friends voice - regardless of the message - it just makes it that much easier for people to believe that there's a real person behind it all.

It adds trust, credibility and believability to the offer. Which are all major issues on the internet - especially in our industry.

The original purpose of the video was to actually get more people to complete the double opt in process by walking them through it live. This would in turn mean more people reading the free ebook.....which would in turn mean more people visiting the main offer and buying.

But interestingly enough, it seemed that the version with the video that my friend was testing didn't increase the number of people who went through the double opt in process at all..... because it resulted in almost the same amount of visitors to the main offer as the version without the video.

It's just that more of the visitors from the video version ended up buying!

By the way, a lot of people ask why use a double opt in process on an ebook. Why not just give them the ebook right away? Don't you lose a lot of people that way? The reason is because it results in a much higher quality prospect - because they have to take more steps to get the information - and the conversion rate is dramatically higher for people who double opt in versus people who get the ebook right away. My friend tested it and sales were roughly 3-4 times higher using double opt in. I know - I was surprised too. I didn't think it would make that much of a difference.

Needless to say, my friend is going to be doing a lot more testing in the near future with video...... and if you have your own site I would highly recommend trying it as well - if you haven't already.

The software that my friend used for the video in this case is called Camtasia and you can find out more about it at http://www.camtasia.com.

This is an incredibly versatile tool that my friend uses all the time for a lot of different things, not just marketing. What it does is it records anything on your computer screen, as well as your voice to go along with it. For example, you can use it for training purposes with your downline if you want to show them how to use a certain website or sign up for a given program. Just go through the process yourself while recording it and you're done. You can pass that video on to a hundred people and never have to show anyone one-on-one again. Great way to leverage your time.

Camtasia also works with webcams so you can record yourself and not just your voice.

This is an even more powerful way to add the personal element to your sales message.

Armond Morin also has a pretty decent product for adding streaming video to websites which is slightly cheaper than Camtasia. You can check it out here:

Or, if you don't want to go either of those routes, pretty much every version of Microsoft Windows comes bundled with Windows Movie Maker and if not, you can always download it for free on their website (iMovie if you have a Mac).